The Wall Street Journal: Trump turns up heat on senators in last-ditch press for health bill

President Donald Trump on Saturday pressed holdout Republican senators to support a GOP health-care bill, in a bid to revive Republicans’ last-ditch effort to roll back the Affordable Care Act one day after the defection of Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) appeared to doom it.

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REUTERS/Ints KalninsWASHINGTON (AP) — The initial GOP bill to repeal and replace the nation's health law is probably "dead" and President Donald Trump's proposal to just repeal it appears to be a "non-starter," two moderate Republican senators indicated Sunday as their party scrambled to salvage faltering legislation.

APThe Senate Republican healthcare process descended into disarray Thursday evening, as four GOP senators threatened to withhold support for a more moderate, "skinnier" attempt at repealing certain parts of the Affordable Care Act.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an overheard phone call Wednesday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham leaned on a fellow senator to back his GOP health care bill despite “all its imperfections.”
Graham called the “Obamacare” repeal bill he co-authored a “historic opportunity” and asserted: “We’re going to vote. Everyone will be held accountable.”

In a surprising demonstration of wit, President Donald Trump told a crowd of rowdy Alabamians Friday night that it would be amusingly “ironic” if Kentucky Senator Rand Paul offered to vote for the Republicans’ floundering Graham-Cassidy health-care bill after John McCain blindsided the administration by withdrawing his support On Friday. The two senators, Trump explained, do not get along.

APTwo Republican senators effectively issued a death blow to the current form of the Senate GOP healthcare legislation on Monday night, throwing into doubt the future of Republican effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Sens. Jerry Moran of Kansas and Mike Lee of Utah announced Monday evening that they both would vote no on a motion to proceed to debate on the bill.

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans suffered a dramatic failure early Friday in their bid to advance a scaled-back plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, raising the prospect of emergency bipartisan talks to shore up the existing health-care system.

REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueTwo Republican senators who voted against the "skinny" healthcare repeal last week said they were concerned the bill cut funding for Planned Parenthood, and that they were working in the best interest of their states.

The Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act has been dealt a number of potentially lethal blows in recent days, but some supporters of the effort — including President Trump — continue to push their colleagues to move forward with repeal. Will a vote happen? Will it succeed? And how does the news of Sen. John McCain’s brain tumor affect the numbers?

AP Photo/Alex BrandonWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says it's probably time to "just let Obamacare fail" after the latest humiliating heath bill collapse in the Senate. Still, he's making a last-ditch effort to find some way to revive his party's seemingly failed efforts on the bill.

After a repeated series of false starts, Senate Republicans are meeting again Wednesday night in an attempt to bring their healthcare bill back from the dead.
The renewed attempt comes amid a flurry of mixed signals form leadership and whiplash-inducing shifts from President Donald Trump.